NCCI Releases The Latest Trends in Medical Equipment Cost Share

The Latest Trends in Medical Equipment Cost Share

Medical equipment—including Durable Medical Equipment (DME); Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Implants (POI); and Supplies—has emerged as a significant component of workers compensation medical costs. This research brief reports on the estimated cost share of medical equipment and its three categories across NCCI jurisdictions for the latest accident year (AY), 2024. The report also examines drivers of trends over the years. Feel free to reuse the graphic below and click to access the full report.  

KEY FINDINGS

• Medical equipment accounts for a substantial portion of overall workers compensation medical expenditure. Estimated medical equipment cost share in AY 2024:
  • Supplies: largest share at 3.3%
  • POI: 2.7%
  • DME: 2.3%
  • 8.3% of total medical costs
  • Category breakdown:
  • Jurisdiction variation: 4.1% to 12.8%
• Estimated medical equipment cost share by claim maturity
• Over the life of a workers compensation claim, the estimated medical equipment share of medical costs increases rapidly in the early stages, then stabilizes as the claim matures
• There have been notable trends in medical equipment from Service Year (SY) 2012 to SY 2024:

• The average cost of medical equipment increased by 87%
• Miscellaneous DME cost share rose persistently
• Other Implantable Devices cost share declined steadily
• Anchor/screw for opposing bone-to-bone or soft tissue-to-bone cost share increased gradually
• General Medical/Surgical Supplies, Sterile Supplies, and Special Supplies Provided by a Physician or Other Qualified Health Care Professional cost shares continued to decline

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